Sexual assault is one of the fastest growing violent crimes in America. Approximately 20% of all people charged with a sexual offense are juveniles. Among adult sex offenders, almost 50% report that their first offense occurred during their adolescence. (FBI, 1993) There are many different opinions, treatment options and legislation to manage the growing numbers of juvenile sex offenders. In today’s society the psychological and behavioral modification treatments used to manage juvenile sex offenders is also a growing concern. To understand and determine the proposed treatment methods, several related issues will need to be reviewed such as traditional sex offender therapy methods like cognitive therapy and alternative therapies like wilderness camps. Once, the juvenile sex offender becomes part of the justice system the cost of rehabilitated or incarcerating the juvenile also must be discussed. The disposition for juvenile sex offenders should be personalized to the offenders’ age, offense and mental health. How we choose these methods and if such treatment is more effective than incarceration are key issues to be discussed. This literature will discuss who the juvenile sex offender is, the various treatment options to rehabilitate juveniles, the viable solutions to monitor and reduce juvenile sex crimes and the cost to properly manage juvenile sex offenders once they have been adjudicated.
Juvenile sex offenders often vary in age, gender and social class; which require a variety of different therapy and rehabilitation methods. Adolescent sex offenders commit a wide range of illegal sexual behaviors, ranging from exploratory behaviors committed largely out of curiosity to repeated aggressive assaults. Adolescents are respo...
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The National Center on Sexual Behavior of Youth at the Center on Child Abuse and Neglect, Initials. (2003). what research shows about. Unpublished manuscript, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, The University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma, Retrieved from ncsby.org
Smith, W. R., & Monastersky, C. (1986). Assessing juvenile sexual offenders' risk for reoffending. Criminal Justice & Behavior, 13, 115-140.
Spark Action, (2010). For juvenile sex offenders, intensive program offers chance to change. Retrieved from http://sparkaction.org/content/juvenile-sex-offenders
Trevino CNN, M. (2009, July 22). Police: four boys sexually assaulted 8-year-old girl. CNN NEWS, Retrieved from http://articles.cnn.com/2009-07-22/justice/arizona.juvenile.sexual.assault_1_assaulted-sexually-four-boys?_s=PM:CRIME
Witt, P., Greenfield, D., & Hiscox, S. (2008). Cognitive/behavioural approaches to the treatment adult sex offenders. Journal of Psychiatry & Law, 36(2), 245-269, retrieved from EBSCOhost
In the event that a prisoner (particularly a sex offender) does complete rehabilitation, he carries with him a stigma upon reentering society. People often fear living near a prior drug addict or convicted murderer and the sensational media hype surrounding released felons can ruin a newly released convict’s life before it beings. What with resident notifications, media scare tactics and general concern for safety, a sex offender’s ability to readapt into society is severely hindered (554). This warrants life-skills rehabilitation applied to him useless, as he will be unable to even attempt to make the right decision regarding further crime opportunities.
As the system came in contact with younger and younger individuals in the sex trade, it was merely a matter of discussion, not action. It was through advocacy efforts, lobbying, and educational propagation that the message was reaching law enforcement officers, juvenile probation officers, and judges entrusted with upholding justice (Musto, 2013). Various community partners have been sought after to be trained and educated on minor sex trafficking that there was never a choice to enter the sex trade, rather an involuntary act of coercion by a traffickers (Musto, 2013). When the shift occurred from punitive to rehabilitative hope was planted for all those children still out in the sex trade fighting for their lives would not have to fear a juvenile Policies have proven to be counterproductive due to a multitude of fundamentally inapt bases to include: exaggerated statistical information inconsistently used; lack of protection safeguards for victims; inadequate resources on various levels; discretionary provisions that are incongruously applied; criminal conjecture; rigidity towards immigrant status in the sex trade; limited sanctions placed on traffickers; lack of fiscal resources; corruptive implications; and a complete lack of safety for children being reintegrated in the community (Vance, 2011). Ultimately, proving to complicate further the rehabilitation of children traumatized by sex
The Recidivism Rate of Juvenile Sex Offenders between Uses of Legal Sentencing as Adults or Utilizing Psychological Treatment
Many resources go into the prevention and management of sex offenders. However, very few effective programs exist that decrease the likelihood of reoffending. Through the use of meta-analyses, Seto and Lalumiere (2010) evaluated multiple studies that examined sex offenders. Emphasis was put on etiological explanations in the hopes of identifying factors associated with sex offending. Seto and Lalumiere’s (2010) findings help in creating effective programs to decrease recidivism rates.
Satchel, Roslyn M. Lost Opportunities: Our children are not rehabilitated when they are treated and incaracated as adults. n.d. .
There is much debate as to whether a sex offender should be released into the public, this debate stems from the idea that a sex offender cannot be treated and that they are a danger to the public as they are ‘purely evil’ (Burke, 2005), however there is much evidence that sex offenders can be treated and re-introduced into society as a productive member. Sex offender is a general term used to refer to any person who has been convicted of crimes involving sex, from rape and molestation to exhibitionism and pornography distribution. There are many theories which try to explain why people are sexual offenders, these theories along with treatments for sex offenders will be looked at to help explain why people sexually offend and to help evaluate whether sex offenders should be released.
Sex offender legislation has been encouraged and written to protect the community and the people at large against recidivism and or to help with the reintegration of those released from prison. Nevertheless, a big question has occurred as to if the tough laws created help the community especially to prevent recidivism or make the situation even worse than it already is. Sex offenders are categorized into three levels for example in the case of the state of Massachusetts; in level one the person is not considered dangerous, and chances of him repeating a sexual offense are low thus his details are not made available to the public (Robbers, 2009). In level two chances of reoccurrence are average thus public have access to this level offenders through local police departments in level three risk of reoffense is high, and a substantial public safety interest is served to protect the public from such individuals.
Treatment approaches consist of cognitive behavioral and multisystemic therapies (Fanniff & Becker, 2006). Juveniles that are convicted of sex offenses may be placed on sex offender registry, occasionally a permanent status (Salerno, Stevenson, el al., 2010). It is unlike a sex offender to adhere to the appropriate sexual and social behaviors; thus the goal for adolescents is to understand the complex world to overcome the typical characteristics of a sex offender. This paper will consist the common characteristics of juvenile sex offenders and the treatment that are considered to be effective. Additionally, academic research is acquired that focus on offender registration and recidivism
The goals of juvenile corrections are too deter, rehabilitate and reintegrate, prevent, punish and reattribute, as well as isolate and control youth offenders and offenses. Each different goal comes with its own challenges. The goal of deterrence has its limits; because rules and former sanctions, as well anti-criminal modeling and reinforcement are met with young rebellious minds. Traditional counseling and diversion which are integral aspects of community corrections can sometimes be ineffective, and studies have shown that sometimes a natural self intervention can take place as the youth grows older; resulting in the youth outgrowing delinquency.
Yates, P. M. (2005). Pathways to treatment of sexual offenders: Rethinking intervention. Forum on Corrections Research, 17, 1-9.
Sex offenders have been a serious problem for our legal system at all levels, not to mention those who have been their victims. There are 43,000 inmates in prison for sexual offenses while each year in this country over 510,000 children are sexually assaulted(Oakes 99). The latter statistic, in its context, does not convey the severity of the situation. Each year 510,000 children have their childhood's destroyed, possibly on more than one occasion, and are faced with dealing with the assault for the rest of their lives. Sadly, many of those assaults are perpetrated by people who have already been through the correctional system only to victimize again. Sex offenders, as a class of criminals, are nine times more likely to repeat their crimes(Oakes 99). This presents a
Prior to 1899, in the United States, child offenders over the age of seven were imprisoned in the same facilities as adult offenders. As a result of political and social reformers, society’s views on juvenile justice began to shift to a more sympathetic view. Beginning in 1899, individual states began to address the youth incarceration problem by establishing youth reform homes, the predecessor to juvenile dentition centers. The objective of these homes was the rehabilitation of juvenile offenders for their re-entry into society and for the greater good. However, in recent years, many have argued that juveniles charged with violent felonies ought to be treated as adults; while others argue its antithesis. In 2005, Kirk Gunderson (17) committed suicide while incarcerated in an adult jail. His mother, Vicky Gunderson, explained to a researcher on youth justice how her son was sexually assaulted and involved in physical confrontations. He was placed in confinement where he was left for two and a-half hours by himself. Once the guards came back, Kirk was found dead hanging by a blanket from a smoke detector. It is upsetting to many to read cases like Kirk’s but it poses a question; could this act of violence been avoided?
Loeber R., and D.P. Farrington. “Serious and violent juvenile offenders: Risk factors and successful interventions.” Thousand Oaks. 1998. First Search. Feb 2007
More importantly, “60 percent of children who are sexually abused do not disclose and most are acquaintances but as many as 47 percent are family or extended family” (The Scope of, 2016). The prevalence of child sexual abuse is difficult to determine because it is often not reported; experts agree that the incidence is far greater than what is reported to authorities (Child Sexual Abuse, 2012). Startling statistics represent the depth of the issue. Globally, prevalence rates show that a range of 7-36% of women and 3-29% of men experience sexual abuse in childhood (The Scope of, 2016). “The U.S Department of Health and Human Services’ Children’s Bureau report child maltreatment 2010 found that 9.2% of victimized children were sexually assaulted” (Child Sexual Abuse,